Industrial chic office

When Bongani Rainmaker Logistics outgrew its premises, the company consulted with Johannesburgbased architectural practice Architects of Justice to assist with its new office fit-out.

Met with an empty shell at the new premises at the Westlake View Logistics Park in Modderfontein, Gauteng, Mike Rassmann, partner at Architects of Justice, notes that while initially the project took a while to get off the ground, the actual implementation on site was incredibly quick. “We had a month to complete the fit-out of the main office, yet the project grew considerably from there in the sense that we also added a number of offices within the warehouse for the operations side of the business.”

Architects of Justice began the process with a breakdown of the entire operations and the business’s requirements. In total, across 1 300m 2 of primary office space over two floors, 70 staff members are accommodated on the lower level (including eight private offices), and 30 staff on the upper office level (including nine private offices). A reception, meeting rooms, main boardroom and executive kitchen were also included. Furthermore, 1 000m 2 of operational office space for 70 staff is located in the warehouse, comprising individual offices, open-plan offices and a 100-seater conference facility.

“For the warehouse component, we created operations offices on the warehouse floor, as well as offices on a central mezzanine level to give the managerial staff a bird’s-eye view of the warehouse activities,” says Rassmann.

The architects identified a dry-walled space between the staircase and the reception area and removed it to create an intermediate lobby from the lower level which leads visitors up to the reception area. “The initial design of the building separated the reception vastly from the rest of the office, so we brought it back up and integrated it into the space. A focal point of this space is the wooden division that was introduced as a screening element, to ensure that all visitors, no matter which department they are going to, must directly report to the receptionist in order to avoid unscheduled walk-ins,” he says.

Ontarget was appointed as the interior designers on the project. Due to most of the layout being populated by closed spaces, special attention was paid to creating a more transparent and approachable environment, with the use of glass shopfronts

A wooden element was introduced as a screening and wayfinding device, to ensure that all visitors can easily find the receptionist.

PROFESSIONAL TEAM DEVELOPER: Fortress Reit Ltd TENANT: Bongani Rainmaker Logistics (Pty) Ltd INTERIOR ARCHITECT: Architects of Justice EXTERIOR ARCHITECT: ICM Architectural Studio QUANTITY SURVEYOR: Quanticost Quantity Surveyors CONTRACTOR: Abbeydale & Civil (Pty) Ltd INTERIOR DESIGNER: Ontarget FIRE ENGINEER: Chimera Fire Protection Consultants ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: MNS Consulting Engineers STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: BSM Baker Consulting Engineers